Fabrics and method of making the same



Au8 19, 1958 c. E. NElsLER, JR 2,848,018

FABRICS AND METHOD oF MAKING THE SAME Filed June 9. 1953 BY Olm M+ MCM"ATTRNEYS United States Patent O per;

FABRICS AND METHOD F MAKING THE SAlVIE Charles Eugene Neisler, Jr.,Kings Mountain, N. C., as-

signor to Neisler Brothers, Incorporated, a corporation of NorthCarolina Application June 9, 1953, Serial No. 360,435

14 Claims. (Cl. 139-410) This invention relates generally toimprovements in fabrics and method of making the same and, moreparticularly, to improvements in inflatable mattress fabrics and methodof making the same.

Mattress fabric generally is formed of a pair of Woven laterally spacedfabrics interconnected by intermediate threads extending therebetween,the length of the latter between connected portions thereof determiningthe spacing apart of said pair of fabrics with said spacing beinglimited to a maximum substantially corresponding to the width of theseries of gages on the loom. It is accordingly the primary aim andobject of the present invention to provide mattress fabric formed of apair of fabrics which are spaced apart a distance substantially greaterthan the width of the series of gages on the loom on which said fabricis made.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide mattressfabric of the aforenoted character which readily lends itself to theformation of inatable containers, for example, said containers usingless material for a given volume than heretofore used containers of thischaracter.

It is yet another object to the present invention to provide an improvedmethod of making the fabric material of the aforenoted character, saidmethod utilizing conventional apparatus in its entirety.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be more fully understood from the following descriptionconsidered inconnection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

In the drawing which illustrates the best modes now contemplated by mefor carrying out my invention:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic View of a loom illustrating one step in theformation of the fabric material of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a View similar to Fig. l illustrating a further step in theformation of the fabric material;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 illustrating still another step inthe formation of the fabric material;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 illustrating yet another step in theformation of the fabric material;

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of the fabric material illustrating thestep of expanding the spacing of the component fabrics thereof;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 illustrating a modified method ofmaking a fabric material; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary top plan view of the fabric material formedaccording to the present invention.

Referring to the drawing in detail, and more particularly to Fig. 5thereof, the mattress fabric 10, formed according to the presentinvention, comprises a pair of woven fabrics 12 and 14 havinganintermediate thread 16 extending therebetween and woven thereto, saidpair of fabrics being disposed in laterally spaced confrontingdisposition with the intermediate thread 16 being transversely disposedbetween the fabrics 12 and 14. In accordance with the present inventionmeans are provided for temporarily supporting the thread 16 inter-2,848,018 Patented Aug. 19, 1958 ice mediate woven portions thereofrelative to the pair of fabrics 12 and 14 so that on the release of saidintermediate portions from temporary support the spacing between thefabrics 12 and 14 may be increased from the spacing indicated at 10' tothe spacing indicated at, 10. One form of method of making the mattressfabric 10 will now be described in detail, said method utilizingconventional apparatus in its entirety.

Thus the loom 20 shown in the drawing is conventional in all respectsand is provided with a series of gages 22 which are disposed warp-wisethereof, said gages being supported by the support members 24 and 26 ina conventional manner. Ground warp threads A, B for the top fabric 12are shown passing over the guiding roller 28 and about the guidingroller 30 and similarly ground warp threads C, D for the bottom fabric14 are shown passing over the guiding roller 32 and about the guidingroller 34. A suitable thread supply will be provided for the formationof the intermediate Warp thread 16, the thread E supplied thereby beingillustrated passing over the roller 36. In the illustrated embodimentthe intermediate thread E is shown associated with heddle 40, thread Ais shown associatedwith heddle 42, thread B is shown associated withheddle 44, thread C is shown associated with heddle 46, and thread D isshown associated with the heddle 48, said heddles being diagrammaticallyillustrated in Figs. l through 4. Each of the heddles is provided withsuitable eyes and the threads of the fabric 10 pass through said eyes.Each of the series of heddles which carry the threads as aforenoted isprovided with its separate harness frame (not shown) and is operated byany suitable conventional mechanism, in accordance with the weavedesired. A reed 50 is provided on` a swinging lay 52 and said apparatusoperates in the conventional manner as will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art. It will be understood that the weaving of themattress vfabric 10 takes place at area 54 of the series of gages 22 andthe latter determine the spacing apart-of the fabrics 12 and 14. Thus inconventional weaving of mattress fabric the distance between the fabrics12 and 14 will substantially correspond to the width of the series ofgages 22 and in accordance with the present invention means are providedto substantially increase said distance or spacing.

The threads A and B are adapted to be interwoven on loom 20 to form thefabric 12 and the threads C and D are adapted to be interwoven on saidloom'to form the fabric 14, the intermediate warp thread E beinginterwoven with the threads A, B, C and D in a manner to be described indetail hereinafter. The weft threads G are interlaced with the warpthreads A, B, C and D in a conventional manner whereas the weft threadsFare adapted to temporarily support the intermediate thread E relative tothe fabrics 12 and 14. In Fig. 1 heddles 40, 42 and 44 are shownpositioned so as to dene a shed 60 and the weft thread F is thrownthrough said shed by a shuttle in the conventional manner. Thus at thisstage of the weaving operation the threads A and B will be positionedbelow the weft thread F and the intermediate thread E will be positionedthereabove. Thereafter the weft thread'F will be layed or beat intoposition in the conventional manner so as to occupy the position F'shown in Fig. 2. The intermediate thread E will be looped as illustratedin Fig. 3 and denoted by 68 and the weft thread F will extend throughsaid loop. As shown in Fig. 2, in a further stage of the 'Weavingoperation the heddles 40, 46 and 48 will be positioned to define theshed 62 and a suitable shuttle will be actuated to project the weftthread F therethrough. Thus the temporary weft thread F" will bedisposed between the threads C and D on one side and the intermediatethread E on an opposite side whereby it will be apparent that the weftthread F is integrated with fabric 14 in a similar manner to theintegration of the weft thread F with fabric 12. Thereafter theapparatus will be operative to position the weft thread F" to theposition F" as shown in Fig. 3 whereby it will be apparent that thetemporary weft threads F and F'" will support portions of theintermediate thread E relative to the fabrics 12 and 14. In Fig. 3 theheddles are shown disposed in a position so as to define the shed 64through which a weft thread G is projected, said weft thread being shownpositioned above thread B and below threads A and E. Similarly a weftthread G will be projected through the shed 66 which is defined betweenthe threads C and D of the fabric 14. Thus in the weaving stageillustrated in Fig. 3 the weft thread G will be interwoven with thethreads A, B and E with the threads A and E positioned thereabovewhereas the weft thread G will be interwoven with the threads C and Dwith the latter thread being disposed outermost. In the next sequence ofoperations the position of the threads A, B and E relative to the weftthread G will be reversed whereby the thread B will be disposedoutermost relative to said weft thread. Similarly the heddles 46 and 48will be so disposed as to reverse the position of threads C and Drelative to weft thread G with thread C being disposed outermostrelative to said weft thread. It is here to be noted that the loopedportions 68 of the intermediate thread E are not interwoven with theirassociated fabrics 12 and 14 so that said looped portions are supportedrelative to said fabrics solely by the temporary weft threads F. Thusthe portions 70 and 70 of the intermediate thread E are interwoven withthe fabrics 12 and 14, respectively, during the weaving of the latterand portions 72, 74 and 76 of the thread E between interwoven portions70 and 70 thereof are temporarily supported relative to the pair offabrics 12 and 14. Thus the portion 70 of the intermediate thread E isinterwoven with the fabric 12 and the portion 70 of said intermediatethread is interwoven with the fabric 14 with the portions 72, 74 and 76of the thread E intermediate the interwoven portions 70 and 70' thereofbeing temporarily supported by the association of the looped portions 68of said intermediate thread with the temporary weft threads F asaforedescribed. It is to be noted in the aforedescribed embodiment theweft threads F are disposed outwardly of the fabrics 12 and 14 of themattress fabric After the aforedescribed weaving operations arecompleted to form fabric 10', the weft threads F are removed in anydesired manner whereby to release the looped portions 68 of thread Efrom temporary support relative to the fabrics 12 and 14. On the removalof the supporting weft threads F the thread portions 72, 74 and 76 maybe expanded so as to define the transversely extending intermediatethread 16, shown in Fig. 5. Thus in the illustrated embodiment thefabrics 12 and 14 may be expanded to substantially three times thespacing corresponding to the width of the series of gages 22. It will bereadily apparent that any desired spacing between the fabrics 12 and 14may be obtained by the aforedescribed method, which is given by way ofillustration only. Thus the removal of the supporting weft threads Fwill permit the expansion of the fabric 10' to the condition 10 as shownin Fig. 5. Accordingly the sole function of the weft threads F is totemporarily support the looped portions 68 of the intermediate thread Eso that the portions 72, 74 and 76 of said intermediate thread may beexpanded on the removal of said weft threads to define the intermediatethread 16 which is of a length that substantially corresponds to threetimes the width of the gages 22.

From the above it will be apparent that warp and weft threads areinterwoven to simultaneously form the pair of fabrics 12 and 14 whichare disposed in laterally spaced confronting disposition with thespacing corresponding to the Width of the series of gages 22 prior to Lthe removal of weft threads F. The intermediate thread E is woven withthe warp and weft threads of the pair of fabrics 12 and 14,respectively, in succession, during the weaving of said pair of fabricswith said thread extending transversely between said pair of fabrics.

With reference to Fig. 6, there is shown a slightly modified form offabric 10 which is woven similar to the fabric 10 aforedescribed exceptin the respects now to be specifically described in detail. The threadportions 68 of the intermediate thread E are looped in a conventionalmanner and the weft threads f and f' are projected through said loopedportions whereby it will be apparent that said weft threads will bedisposed inwardly of the fabrics 12 and 14 and outwardly of the gages 22for support by the latter. Accordingly when the weft threads f and f arereleased from support by the edges 23 of the gages 22 the fabrics 12 and14 may be laterally spaced apart substantially corresponding to thecondition 10 shown in Fig. 5. Thus the threads f and f are released fromsupport by the gages 22 when the fabric material is drawn therefrom soas to permit the increase of the lateral spacing between the fabrics 12and 14 as aforedescribed. Accordingly in the embodiment illustrated inFig. 6 it is not necessary to remove the weft threads f and f as saidthreads will be disposed between the fabrics 12 and 14 and will beaccordingly hidden from View in finished articles formed from the fabricmaterial 10. Thus in the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 6, portions ofthe thread E intermediate interwoven portions thereof are temporarilysupported relative to the fabrics 12 and 14 by means of the gages 22 sowhen the fabric material is drawn from said gages the weft threads f andf will be released from support thereby whereby to permit the increaseof the lateral spacing between the fabrics 12 and 14. As aforenoted thefabrics 12 and 14 may be spaced apart any desired distance and theaforedescribed specific embodiments are given by way of example and notby way of limitation.

The fabric material 10 may have the pair of fabrics 12 and 14 coated orimpregnated with any suitable fiuid impervious material such as latex,plastic, or the like whereby articles fabricated from said material willbc fluid impervious. Thus, as shown in Fig. 7, the area 11 of fabric 10is suitably coated with a fluid impervious material whereby it will beapparent that articles fabricated of such material will be fiuidimpervious. As shown in Fig. l, the fabric 10' leaving the gages 22 willbe drawn by a suitable take-up roll 78 which is positioned forwardly ofthe series of gages 22.

Any suitable threads may be used to form the fabric material 10 and thelatter may be used to form a multitude of articles, for exampleiniiatable mattresses and inflatable containers. Thus the fabric 10 maybe fabricated to form containers for carbon dioxide and the like forfire extinguishing purposes or said containers may be used to containfuel such as gasoline and the like. It will be understood that theaforedescribed mattress fabric 10 readily lends itself to the formationof containers and the latter will use less material for a given volumethen the heretofore used containers of this character in that saidcontainers may be formed of a substantially greater depth without theintegration of a plurality of such containers which must utilize morematerial for the same volume. Thus the aforedescribed method readilylends itself to the formation of individual containers which have adepth which is not limited to a depth corresponding to the widthwisedimension of the gages 22.

Thus the aforedescribed mattress fabric 10 is formed of a pair offabrics 12 and 14 which are spaced apart a distance substantiallygreater than the width of the series of gages 22 on the loom 20 on whichsaid fabric is made. It will be understood that the loom 20 on which thefabric material 10 is made is conventional in all respects and saidfabric material may be made on any conventional weaving apparatus suchas a Dobby or Jacquard loom 'or any other loom having conventional shedcontrol apparatus.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of myinvention, it will be understood that various changes may be made in thepresent invention without departing from the underlying idea orprinciples of the invention within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claimv and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is:`

l. The method of making a fabric material formed of a pair of wovenfabrics having an intermediate thread extending therebetween and woventhereto, comprising the steps of interweaving warp and weft threads tosimultaneously form a pair of fabrics disposed in laterally spacedconfronting disposition, weaving said intermediate thread with said warpand weft threads of said pair of fabrics, respectively, in successionduring the yweaving of said pair of fabrics with said thread extendingtransversely between said pair of fabrics, temporarily supportingportions of said thread intermediate interwoven portions thereofrelative to said pair of fabrics by means of weft threads disposedoutwardly of said fabrics, and thereafter removing said last mentionedweft threads whereby to release said portions from said temporarysupport whereby to permit an increase of the lateral spacing betweensaid pair of fabrics.

2. The method of making a fabric material formed of a pair of wovenfabrics having an intermediate warp thread extending therebetween andwoven thereto, according to which there is employed a loom havingwarp-wise extending spacing means for holding said fabrics in initiallyspaced apart confronting relation;'said method comprising the steps ofinterweaving warp and weft threads to simultaneously form a pair offabrics disposed in laterally spaced confronting disposition at oppositesides, respectively, of said spacing means, weaving said intermediatethread with said warp and weft threads of said pair of fabrics,respectively, in succession during the weaving of said pair of fabricswith said thread extending transversely between said pair of fabrics,temporarily supporting portions of said thread intermediate interwovenportions thereof relative to said pair of fabrics by means of weftthreads disposed inwardly of said fabrics `at opposite sides,respectively, of said spacing means, and thereafter removing said lastmentioned weft threads whereby to release said portions from saidtemporary support whereby to permit an increase of the lateral spacingbetween said pair of fabrics to a spacing greater than the initialspacing provided by said spacing means.

k 3. The method of making a fabric4 material formed of a pair o f wovenfabrics having an intermediate thread extending therebetweenl and woventhereto, comprising the steps of interweaving warp and weft threads tosimultaneously form a pair of fabrics disposed in laterally spacedconfronting disposition, weaving, said intermediate thread with saidwarp and weft threads of said pair of fabrics, respectively, insuccession during the weaving of said pair of fabrics with said threadextending transversely between said pair of fabrics, temporarilysupporting portions of said thread intermediate interwoven portionsthereof relative to said pair of fabrics by looping said thread portionsand extending weft threads therethrough with the latter being disposedoutwardly of said fabrics, and thereafter removing said last mentionedweft threads whereby to release said portions from said temporarysupport whereby to permit an increase of the lateral spacing betweensaid pair of fabrics.

4. The method of making a fabric material on a loom having a series ofgages disposed warpwise thereof with the material being formed of a pairof woven fabrics having an intermediate thread extending therebetweenand woven thereto, comprising the steps of interweaving warp and weftthreads to simultaneously form a pair of fabrics disposed in laterallyspaced confronting disposition with said spacing corresponding to thewidth of said series of gages, weaving said intermediate thread withsaid warp and weft threads of said pair of fabrics, respectively, insuccession during the weaving of said pair of fabrics with said threadextending transversely between said pair of fabrics, temporarilysupporting portions of said thread intermediate interwoven portionsthereof relative to said pair of fabrics by looping said thread portionsand extending weft threads therethrough with the latter being disposedoutwardly of said fabrics, and thereafter removing said last mentionedweft threads whereby to release said portions from temporary support soas to permit a substantial increase of the lateral spacing between saidpair of fabrics,

5. The method of making a fabric material on a loom having a series ofgages disposed warpwise thereof with the material being formed of a pairof woven fabrics having an intermediate warp thread extendingtherebetween and woven thereto, comprising the steps of interweavingwarp and weft threads to simultaneously form a pair of fabrics disposedin laterally spaced confronting disposition with said spacingcorresponding to the width ofsaid series of gages, weaving saidintermediate thread with said warp and weft threads of said pair offabrics, respectively, in succession during the weaving of said pair offabrics with said thread extending transversely between said pair offabrics, temporarily supporting portions of said thread intermediateinterwoven portions thereof relative to said pair of fabrics by loopingsaid thread portions and extending weft threads therethrough with thelatter being disposed inwardly of said fabrics and outwardly of saidgages at opposite sides, respectively, thereof for support by the latterwhereby said last mentioned weft threads are released from support bysaid gages when said fabric material is removed therefrom so as topermit a substantial increase of the lateral spacing between said pairof fabrics to a spacing greater than the initial spacing provided bysaid gages 6. The method of making a fabric material on a loom having aseries of gages disposed warpwise thereof with the material being formedof a pair vof woven fabrics having an intermediate thread extendingtherebetween and woven thereto, comprising the steps of interweavingwarp and weft threads to simultaneously form a pair of fabrics disposedin` laterally spaced confronting disposition with said spacingcorrespondingto the width of said series of gages, weaving saidintermediate thread with said warp and weft threads of said pair offabrics, respectively, in succession during theweaving of said ypair offabrics with said thread extending transversely between said pair offabrics, temporarily supporting portions of said thread intermediateinterwoven portions thereof relative to said pair of fabrics by loopingsaid thread portions and extending weft threads therethrough with thelatter being disposed outwardly of said fabrics, and thereafter removingsaid last mentioned weft threads whereby to release said portions fromtemporary support so as to permit a substantial increase of the lateralspacing between said pair of fabrics, and impregnating said pair offabrics with a fluid impervious material so as to render said pair offabrics fluid impervious.

7. A fabric material comprising a pair of woven fabrics having anintermediate thread extending therebetween and woven thereto, said pairof fabrics being disposed in laterally spaced confronting dispositionwith said intermediate thread transversely disposed therebetween, andmeans for supporting said thread intermediate woven portions thereofrelative to said pair of fabrics whereby the release of saidintermediate portions from support permits an increase of spacingbetween said pair of fabrics, said means comprising weft threadsdisposed outwardly of said fabrics, said weft threads extending throughlooped portions of said intermediate thread.

8. The method of making a fabric material formed of a pair of fabricshaving an intermediate warp thread extending therebetween and connectedthereto, according to which there is employed a loom having warpwiseextending spacing means for holding said fabrics in initially spacedapart confronting relation; `said method comprising the steps ofsimultaneously weaving said pair of fabrics in spaced apart confrontingdisposition at opposite sides, respectively, of said spacing means,securing portions of said intermediate warp thread to said pair offabrics at spaced intervals with said thread extending transverselybetween said pair of fabrics and interconnecting the latter, andtemporarily supporting, by means of weft threads disposed at oppositesides, respectively, of said spacing means, successive portions of saidthread intermediate successive secured portions thereof at points spacedfrom each other transversely of said pair of fabrics whereby the releaseof said intermediate portions from temporary support while said pair offabrics are interconnected by said intermediate thread permits anincrease of spacing between said pair of fabrics to a spacing greaterthan the initial spacing provided by said spacing means.

9. The method of making a fabric material formed of a pair of wovenfabrics having an intermediate thread extending therebetween and woventhereto, according to which there is employed a loom having warpwiseextending spacing means for holding said fabrics in initially spacedapart confronting relation; said method comprising the steps ofinterweaving warp and weft threads to simultaneously form a pair -offabrics disposed in laterally spaced apart confronting disposition atopposite sides, respectively, of said spacing means, weaving '1 saidintermediate thread with said warp and weft threads of said pair offabrics, respectively, in succession during the weaving of said pair offabrics with said thread extending warpwise of said pair of fabrics withportions thereof intermediate interwoven portions thereof extendingtransversely between said pair of fabrics and interconnecting thelatter, temporarily supporting successive portions of said threadintermediate successive interwoven portions thereof at points spacedfrom each other transversely of said pair of fabrics, by means of weftthreads disposed at opposite sides, respectively, of said spacing means,and thereafter releasing said portions from said temporary support whilesaid pair of fabrics are interconnected by said intermediate threadwhereby to permit an increase of the lateral spacing between said pairof fabrics as determined -by said latter portions to a spacing greaterthan the initial spacing provided by said spacing means.

10. The method of making a fabric material formed of a pair of wovenfabrics having an intermediate thread extending therebetween and woventhereto, according to which there is employed a loom having warpwiseextending spacing means for holding said fabrics in initially spacedapart confronting relation; said method comprising the steps ofinterweaving warp and weft threads to simultaneously form a pair offabrics disposed in laterally spaced confronting disposition at oppositesides, respectively, of said spacing means, weaving said intermediatethread with said warp and weft threads of said pair of fabrics,respectively, in succession during the weaving of said pair of fabricswith said thread extending transversely between said pair of fabrics,temporarily supporting successive portions of said thread intermediatesuccessive interwoven portions thereof at points spaced from each othertransversely of said pair of fabrics by means of weft threads, andthereafter releasing said last mentioned weft threads whereby to releasesaid portions from said temporary support while said pair of fabrics areinterconnected by said intermediate thread whereby to permit an increaseof the lateral yspacing between said pair of fabrics to a spacinggreater than the initial spacing provided by said spacing means.

11. The method of making a fabric material formed of a pair of wovenfabrics having an intermediate thread extending therebetween and woventhereto, comprising the steps of interweaving warp and weft threads tosimultaneously form a pair of fabrics disposed in initial laterallyspaced apart confronting disposition, weaving said intermediate threadwarpwise of said fabric materials with said warp and weft threads ofsaid pair of fabrics,

L respectively, in succession during the weaving of said pair of fabricswith said thread folded back and forth along lines extending between andperpendicular to said pair of fabrics and interconnecting the latter,temporarily supporting successive portions of said thread intermediatesuccessive interwoven portions thereof at points spaced from each othertransversely of said pair of fabrics by means of weft threads, andthereafter releasing said supporting weft threads whereby to releasesaid portions from said temporary support while said pair of fabrics areinterconnected by said intermediate thread whereby to permit an increaseof the lateral spacing between said pair of fabrics to a spacing greaterthan said initial spacing.

12. A fabric material comprising a pair of woven fabrics interconnectedin spaced apart confronting relation, made according to the methoddefined by claim l1.

13. A fabric material comprising a pair of woven fabrics interconnectedin spaced apart, confronting relation, made according to the methoddefined by claim l.

14. A fabric material comprising a pair of woven fabrics interconnectedin spaced apart confronting relation, made according to the methoddefined by claim 5.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,046,039 Schaar Iune 30, 1936 2,391,835 Cavanagh Dec. 25, 19452,632,480 MacIntyre Mar. 24, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 420,785 Great BritainDec. 7, 1934

